Husband found guilty of killing Former Thayer Academy principal while scuba diving

Staff reports

Wednesday

Oct 28, 2009 at 12:01 AMOct 28, 2009 at 7:35 AM

The husband of a former Thayer Academy administrator has been found guilty of murdering her a decade ago while they were scuba diving in the waters off Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Prosecutors said David Swain killed Shelley Tyre to pursue another woman. Experts testified that he tore off her mask from behind and shut off her air supply near a shipwreck.

Shelly Tyre

The husband of a former Thayer Academy administrator has been found guilty of murdering her a decade ago while they were scuba diving in the waters off Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.

During a three-week trial in Tortola, prosecutors said Rhode Island resident David Swain killed his wife to pursue another woman. Experts testified that they believed he attacked Shelley Tyre, his wife of six years, while they were diving near a shipwreck. They testified that he tore off her mask from behind and shut off her air supply. She was 46.

Under local law in this eastern Caribbean nation, the nine jurors had four hours to produce a verdict Tuesday. Although only a seven-vote majority was required, Supreme Court Justice Indra Hariprashad-Charles urged the seven women and two men to issue a unanimous verdict after giving a three-hour summation of the case, and they did.

A judge is expected to sentence David Swain on Nov. 4. He is 53 years old and faces life in prison in Tortola, where he has been held for about two years.

The defense had argued during the three-week trial that a poorly done autopsy report did not rule out medical causes for Tyre’s death, such as a heart attack, during what they say was an accidental drowning. Defense lawyer Timothy Bradl of the Boston-based firm Denner Pellegrino said the verdict would be appealed. Swain made no comment as he was led out of the courtroom and entered an armored car.

Tyre was the middle school principal at Thayer Academy and had commuted to the private school in Braintree from her home with Swain in Jamestown, R.I., until her resignation a short time before her death. She had accepted an administrative post at a private school closer to her home.

In 2006, a Rhode Island jury awarded Tyre’s parents, Richard and Lisa Tyre of Canton, $3.5 million in a wrongful-death civil suit. Swain, who had owned a scuba shop in Rhode Island, filed for bankruptcy after that judgment was entered.

The drowning, which occurred while Swain and Tyre were on vacation in March of 1999, was initially deemed an accident, but the verdict in the civil case caused officials in Tortola to reopen the case.

Richard and Lisa Tyre were in the courtroom and gasped when the verdict was read.

After obtaining permission from the judge, Richard Tyre walked to the witness box and clutched a microphone.

“We’re old, we’re in our 80s, and when Shelley was killed, our life pretty much ended,” he said in a broken voice.

He then left the courtroom.

Prosecutors accused Swain of killing his wife so he could pursue a romance with a Rhode Island chiropractor, gain his wife’s inheritance, estimated at $630,000, and save his dive shop, which was a failing business. The couple’s prenuptial agreement reportedly denied him money if they divorced.

Shelley Tyre, who married Swain in 1993, gave him money to start his business, her father said.

One of the couple’s traveling companions found Shelley Tyre floating on her back. The mouthpiece of her snorkel was missing, her mask was damaged and her fin was later found embedded in a sandbar – signs of a violent struggle, experts testified at the civil trial.

Swain surfaced from the water about a half-hour later.

After his wife’s death, Swain returned to Jamestown, an island community across a bridge from Newport, and was elected to the town council. Federal agents arrested Swain at his dive shop in November 2007, and he was extradited to Tortola.

The Patriot Ledger

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